‘Jal Pallavi’, water logging tolerant Cymbopogon winterianus

ABSTRACT

The present invention is related to the development of a new and distinct vegetatively propagated water tolerant plant of  Cymbopogon winterianus  by selection of a somatic variant from high yielding line Jorlab-2, the selected plant withstands prolonged water stagnation with no reduction in yield of essential oil.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to an aquatic stress tolerant highyielding citronella plant ‘Jal Pallavi’. More particularly, theinnovation relates to the development of an aquatic stress tolerant highyielding citronella plant through extensive clonal selection for thespontaneous genetic variants under artificial water stress conditions ofsustained stagnation. These selections were made under high stringencyof surviving ability and normal growth behavior under prolonged waterstagnation in vegtatively multiplied large population of citronella(‘Jorlab-2’). The variety being propagated vegetatively by tillers andis stable for commercial cultivation.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Water stagnation over undulated soil surface in a large perennialplantation of citronella leads to physiological damage (plant sickness)and even significant level of plant mortality. This as a consequencereduces the total crop productivity. Until now, not even a single highyielding variety is available which would successfully withstand waterstagnation and sustain its high productivity even under aquaticsituation. Unlike other perennial aromatic grasses (lemongrass andPalmarosa) citronella suffers from a drawback that it does not setviable seeds. Thus, from breeding angle, the scope of improving itsplant traits is absolutely confined to genetic manipulations at clonallevel. Keeping this limitation of the plant in view, planned effortswere made at this Institute's (CIMAP's) headquarters at Lucknow and itsfield station Pantnagar to explore the possibility of obtaining a watertolerant genotype with high yield potential within the otherwise highyielding variety through its extensive clonal selections.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To overcome the above difficulties, the present invention provides anovel, distinct, high yielding and stable variety of citronella plantCybopogon winterianus, named as ‘Jal Pallavi’ characterived by thefollowing combination of characteristics:

(a) a variant (mutant) of the normal citronella variety ‘Jorlab-2’ withdistinct morphology that was selected and isolated through large scalescreening for any spontaneous arising variability,

(b) highly adapted to both favorable as well as unfavorable environmentsof continuous and aberrant water stagnation situations,

(c) production of more biomass (herbage yield) in comparison to theexisting citronella varieties,

(d) production of essential oil with pleasant smell conforming to thestandard concentrations for the major oil components citronellal,citronellol and geraniol much useful in pharmaceutical/aromaticpreparations for various applications,

(e) unique RAPD profile, compared to those of the existing citronellavarieties,

(f) exhibiting least reduction in yield (hergabe as well as essentialoil) over years and thus constitutes the most suitable material forperennial plantations, and

(g) substantially high oil yield, at least 1.22%, with the following oilconstituents to a maximum extent of citronellal at least 40.7%,citronellol at least 10.7% geraniol at least 17.5% and the rest beingunidentified fractions in the essential oil, all totaling to 100% atdifferent stages of growth, substantially as shown and described.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1. A 3 year old plant of Jal Pallavi.

FIG. 2. Two yellow green leaves (colour code ‘246B’ on R.H.S. colourchart of ‘Jal Pallavi’ (Right) compared to the two deep green leaves(colour code ‘146A’ on R.H.S. colour chart of normal variety (Left).

FIG. 3. A ‘Jal Pallavi’ plant (2 years old) showing yellow green leaves(colour code ‘146B’ on R.H.S. colour chart) and red purple leaf sheath(colour code ‘70B’ on R.H.S. colour chart).

FIG. 4. A ‘Jal Pallavi’ plant (3 years old) exhibiting the ‘Marker’character for water logging tolerance: Stem elongation at the plant baseand leaf sheath.

FIG. 5. A plant of normal variety showing no stem elongation betweenplant base and leaf sheath.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Breeding History

‘Jal Pallavi’ is an out-come of a strategic approach of vegetativelymultiplying a specific variety of citronella to develop a large clonalpopulation to serve as a pool for selections of a water logging tolerantgenotype. It has been grown and developed at Field station at Pantnagar,Uttar Pradesh, India. The institute where the inventors reside and doresearch is called “Central institute of Medicinal & Aromatic Plants”and is situated at Lucknow. The place where field trials had beencarried is a field station called “Pantnagar”. This is a small placenear the city of Lucknow. Lucknow and Pantnagar are both in the State ofUttar Pradesh in India.

The water tolerant plant namely ‘Jal Pallavi’ of this invention is anout-come of a strategic approach of vegetatively multiplying a specificvariety of citronella to develop a large clonal population to serve as apool for selections. The objective of the selection was to identify andisolate a spontaneous genetic variant possessing significant watertolerance ability coupled with high oil yield under artificially createdsituation of water stagnation. Among the existing citronella (Javacitronella type of the trade) varieties in India, ‘Jorlab-2’ is one ofthe popular varieties but is susceptible to water stagnation in thefarmers fields. This variety was identified as the starting geneticmaterial for exercising the clonal selections. We planted a largepopulation in the field comprising 5000 slips having intact rootregenerating base of the mother variety ‘Jorlab2’.

Immediately after their planting, the slips at the tiller pre-emergencephase were exposed to artificially created aquatic situations as shownin Photograph # 1 with 8 cm water stagnation (referred as “treatments”for sake of brevity in the discussion) keeping each water-treatmentsustained for one month and allowing 7 days dry interval between twotreatments. The distinct effect of such prolonged water treatment couldbe recorded after 15 days of planting and there of, 15 days of waterexposure. From the huge population of 5000 clones, only one plantrevealed the unusual potential for withstanding the prolonged waterstagnation and even sustaining much normal growth behavior under waterstagnation showing the rarity of the desirable genetic change. Rest ofthe plants, despite their ostensible survival against water stagnation,were observed to be greatly impeded of the root development and tillerinitiation phase. These plants with rare exception of showing 1-2tillers as shown in Photograph # 2 having poor root growth, did notexhibit normal vegetative reproducibility throughout the wholeexperimental period of one year (1994-95) apart from remaining as laterooted weak plants (mostly mono-stemmed). The variant plant with normalgrowth habit under the aquatic situation was thus identified andisolated as shown in Photograph # 3 and was first labeled as WTC-1(Water Tolerant Citronella) and later christened as ‘Jal Pallavi’(Jal=water; Pallavi=endowed with many leaves) to distinguish it from therest physiologically weak ‘Jorlab-2’ plants under water stresscondition. ‘Jal Pallavi’ was vegetatively multiplied at a large scalefollowing the confirmation of its reproducible property of toleratingwater stagnation. It was subsequently assessed in normal fields for itsproductivity against its parent variety ‘Jorlab-2’ as well as the otherhigh yielding varieties of citronella namely, ‘Manjusha’, ‘Mandakini’and ‘Bio-13’ (earlier released by CIMAP for cultivation). Comparativeappraisal of morpho-physiological fitness and productivity of cultivar‘Jal Pallavi’ against the parent variety and the said other varietieswas carried out through a preliminary yield trial during 1995-96 undernormal field conditions (Table 1).

TABLE 1 Comparative growth performances of ‘Jal Pallavi’ and othervarieties of citronella in a yield trial (1995-96) conducted undernormal field conditions at Pantnagar. Plant Number of Leaf Leaf HerbageOil Variety/ height tillers per length width yield per content Strain(cm) plant (cm) (cm) plant (g) (%) Bio-13 78.7 81 67.6 1.6 600.0 1.12Manjusha 82.6 86 70.0 1.7 703.3 0.95 Mandakini 78.5 78 67.3 1.8 602.70.87 Jorlab-2 76.3 72 65.3 1.5 553.3 0.77 Pantnagar 79.6 69 58.7 1.4490.0 0.93 local Jal Pallavi 95.7 94 72.0 1.5 893.3 1.22 CD (5%) 5.4 5.34.4 0.2 175.0

As evident the selected plant ‘Jal Pallavi’ demonstrated the supremacyover all the varieties for yield attributes as well as plant growth. Itshowed a significant increase of plant height by 13.1 cm over thetallest variety ‘Manjusha’ and 19.4 cm over the parent ‘Jorlab-2’.Increase in tillering was 10% over ‘Manjusha’ and 30% over parent‘Jorlab-2’. The increase in herbage yield was 27% over the best check‘Manjusha’ and 63% over parent. Oil content showed an increase of about9% over best check ‘Bio-13’. 28% over ‘Manjusha’ and 71% over‘Jorlab-2’. This significant improvement prompted us to conduct PilotScale Trials (PST) over three years (1996-97, 1997-98 and 1998-99).

A unique morphological feature that enables Jal Pallavi to be distinctfrom the existing normal varieties is that it quickly elongates itsstems (culms) lying between the plant base and leaf sheaths under bothnormal and waterlogging situation. Its elongated stem part being veryhard and rigid with large number of compact nodes (8-12 against 4-5 ofthe normal plants) and short internodes (1.5 to 2.0 cm against 2.0 to3.0 cm of the normal varieties) and having no leaves, Jal Pallavi isquite capable of placing the base of leaf sheaths with leaf meristemsabove the level of stagnant water. Indeed, this very unique feature ofstem elongation at the basal part of the plant can be considered as themajor ‘morphological marker’ for water logging tolerance of the newvariety Jal Pallavi (Sheet #3, Photograph 190 4, Jal Pallavi with thedistinct stem elongation shown at the right side).

TABLE 2 Comparative performance of ‘Jal Pallavi’ and other varieties ofcitronella for herbage yield in PST at Pantnagar, under normal fieldconditions (Plot Size: 16 m × 5 m). 1996-97 1997-98 Plot yield (kg) inPlot yield (kg) in the harvest no. the harvest no. Variety/Strain 1 2 3Total 1 2 3 Total Bio-13 46.0 81.6 80.7 208.3 45.6 78.0 59.5 183.1Manjusha 53.3 89.8 115.4 258.5 52.5 85.5 94.8 232.8 Mandakini 60.8 93.4103.4 257.6 56.7 84.8 83.2 224.7 Jorlab-2 58.5 102.7 97.7 259.0 56.0101.3 68.0 225.3 Pantnagar 40.5 81.1 66.4 188.0 39.8 78.5 55.3 173.6Local Jal Pallavi 68.6 114.4 92.2 275.2 65.1 110.5 90.3 266.0 CD (5″/0)37.2 32.2 Herbage 1998-99 yield Per Plot yield (kg) plot/ ha/ in theharvest no. year year Variety/Strain 1 2 3 Total (kg) (q) Bio-13 40.772.4 51.5 164.6 185.3 231.6 43.4 Manjusha 47.3 82.6 66.8 196.7 229.3286.6 16.0 Mandakini 51.7 85.4 69.2 206.3 229.5 296.8 15.8 Jorlab-2 50.881.1 59.0 191.0 225.1 181.1 18.1 Pantnagar 37.5 73.5 40.3 151.3 171.0213.6 Local 55.5 Jal Pallavi 63.0 106.5 86.7 256.2 265.8 332.1 CD (5″/0)25.2 27.0 *Percent improvement for herbage yield in ‘Jal Pallavi’ overthe other varieties is shown by values that are underlined.

TABLE 3 Comparative performance of ‘Jal Pallavi’ and the other varietiesof citronella for oil yield in PST at Pantnagar, under normal fieldconditions (Plot Size: 16 m × 5 m) 1996-97 1997-98 Plot yield (kg) inPlot yield (kg) in harvest no. harvest no. Variety/strain 1 2 3 Total 12 3 Total Bio-13 0.61 0.57 1.03 2.21 0.61 0.55 0.77 1.93 Manjusha 0.640.60 1.15 2.40 0.62 0.56 0.94 2.12 Mandakini 0.59 0.56 1.03 2.20 0.560.53 0.82 1.91 Jorlab-2 0.55 0.51 0.82 1.88 0.63 0.52 0.57 1.62Pantnagar 0.53 0.47 0.80 1.80 0.51 0.46 0.65 1.62 Local Jal Pallavi 1.00.91 1.27 3.18 0.93 0.89 1.26 3.08 CD (5%) 0.36 0.22 Oil yield 1998-99per Plot yield (kg) plot/ ha/ in harvest no. year year Variety/Strain 12 3 Total (kg) (q) Bio-13 0.54 0.51 0.67 1.72 1.95 243.7 58.0 Manjusha0.62 0.54 0.68 1.84 2.12 265.0 45.3 Mandakini 0.52 0.51 0.70 1.73 1.94242.5 58.8 Jorlab-2 0.47 0.40 0.50 1.37 1.62 202.5 90.1 Pantnagar 0.470.44 0.48 1.40 1.60 200.0 Local 92.5 Jal Pallavi 0.92 0.85 1.21 2.983.08 385.0 CD (5%) 0.16 0.25 31.25 *Percent improvement for oil yield in‘Jal Pallavi’ over the other varieties is shown by values that areunderlined.

Pilot Scale Yield Trials (PST) were conducted in a Randomized BlockDesign (RBD) fashion with three replications for each treatment. In eachtrial, the plants were grown with 45 cm×30 cm plant-spacing in each plotof 16 m×5 m size and were maintained for 4 years (1995-99) by providingthe normal cultural practices and fertilizer dosage at 150:80:60(N₂:P₂O₅:K₂O) each year. The data on green herbage and oil productivityin the varieties were collected consecutively for 3 years (1996-99)availing three harvests (cuts) per year, the harvesting schedule being:April, August and November for each year. The yearly averages for perhectare herbage (Table 2) and oil yield (Table 3) in ‘Jal Pallavi’ were:332.1 q and 385.0 kg, rewpectively as against corresponding figures:231.6 q and 243.7 kg in ‘Bio-13’, 286.6 q and 265.0 kg in ‘Manjusha’,286.9 q and 242.5 kg in ‘Mandakini’, 281.1 q and 202.5 kg in ‘Jorlab-2’(mother variety) and 231.6 q and 200 kg in ‘Pantnagar Local’. Analysisof these results for average productivity of the varieties vis-a-vistheir productivity trends over the three years (1996-99) evidentlydemonstrated that ‘Jal Pallavi’ besides exhibiting mazimum per hectareper year average yield, shows the least reduction over the years whichamounted to negligible proportions (3-6% as against 10-27% in the othervarieties (Table 2 & 3), a desirable feature for perennial plantations.Thus, it was apparent that ‘Jal Pallavi’ is the best genotype incitronella so far, in terns of both high yielding ability and stabilityin yield. Consistent with the results of productivity trends in thevarieties were, observations on the varying degrees of plantationsickness associated with soil undulation-led water stagnation in thevarieties. It is noteworthy that in all the varieties except ‘JalPallavi’, the occurrence of physiologically weak plants invariablyassociated with the depressed soil patches having stagnant water is verycommon, especially in the third year after planting. Such sick plantsare conspicuously damaged with hardly 1-5 surviving tillers as againstthe healthy plants of ‘Jal Pallavi’, each having 55-88 tillers under thesame condition.

The performance of ‘Jal Pallavi’ in the PST under water logged situationcreated by stagnating 8 cm water in a sustained manner very clearlydemonstrated its substantial superiority against all other varieties andchecks (Table 4). While all other varieties showed poor tillering,herbage and oil yield under these conditions, ‘Jal Pallavi’ behavedquite parallel to its potential under normal conditions. As evident theadvantage in case of ‘Jal Pallavi’ was of 4.96 folds for herbage yieldand 6.36 folds for oil yield over the checks.

TABLE 4 Comparative performances of ‘Jal Pallavi’ and other varieties ofcitronella for tiller number and herbage and oil yield under 8 cm waterlogged situation in PST at Pantnagar (Plot size: 16 m × 5 m; plot yieldpooled over three seasons in each year) 1997-1998 Herbage yield Oilyield Tiller no./ per per per Plant plot 11 ha plot ha Variety/Strain ICFC (kg) (kg) (kg) (q) Bio-13 16 18 54.5 68.1 0.50 62.5 Manjusha 20 2366.7 83.4 0.60 75.0 Mandakini 18 20 58.2 72.8 0.50 62.5 Jorlab-2 12 1440.0 50.0 0.30 37.5 Pantnagar 15 17 49.6 62.0 0.40 50.0 Local JalPallavi 28 82 230.6 288.5 2.54 317.5 CD (5%) — 8.5 78.3 — 0.75 —1998-1999 Herbage Oil yield Yield of Tiller no. yield per per herbage/oil/ha Variety/ plant plot ha plot ha ha/year year Strain IC FC (kg) (q)(kg) (q) (q) (kg) Bio-13 15 13 44.3 51.6 0.40 50.0 60.0 56.2 Manjusha 1815 45.3 56.3 0.40 50.0 70.0 62.5 Mandakini 17 14 42.7 54.6 0.36 45.063.7 53.8 Jorlab-2 10 8 25.5 32.0 0.20 25.0 41.0 31.2 Pantnagar 12 1035.6 44.5 0.30 37.5 53.2 43.8 Local Jal Pallavi 78 76 226.7 283.4 2.50312.5 286.0 315.0 CD (5%) — 7.2 73.8 — 0.68 — — — IC: Initial count oftillers at the time of 8 cm water stagnation treatment in field. FC:Final count of tillers after one year's treatment.

Objective Description of the Variety

a) Genus: Cymbopogon.

b) Species: Winterianus.

c) Family: Gramineae.

d) Common name: Citronella (Java citronella of trade)

e) Plant height: 95.7±1.2 cm against, 76.3±1.1 cm, 82.6±1.3 cm of‘Jorlab-2’, ‘Bio-13’ and ‘Manjusha’, respectively (Table 1).

f) Growth habit: Highly synchronous growth habit with long tillers.

g) Stem (culm): Moderately bold.

h) Leaf: Moderately-broad and thick and light green (146B). (Table 1).

i) Inflorescence: Racemose spike.

j) Active constituents: Citronellal 40.7%, Citronellol 10.7% andGeraniol 17.5% as against the corresponding values for theseconstituents: 36.9%, 10.5% and 21.9% in the mother variety ‘Jorlab-2’and 44.5%, 10.5% and 20.6%, in ‘Bio-13’.

Culms, up to 1.5 cm diam at the base, length 24-30 cm unbranched above,with glabrescent 8-12 nodes (against 4-5 in the normal varieties),length of internode 1.5-2.0 cm (against 2.0-3.0 cm in the normalvarieties).

Leaves not basally aggregated, 5-8 in number, (against rarely our 6 inthe normal varieties)

Leaf blades linear, 90-110 cm long (against 68-95 cm of the othervarieties) and not more than 1.5-2.0 cm wide.

Leaf surface glabrous with scabrous margins, glaucous beneath narrowedto the base; Leaf tip long acuminate; Sheaths smooth, glabrous andstriate. Legules scarious and 0.3-0.4 cm long (against. 0.20-0.25 cm ofthe other varieties) and often lacerate. Leaf color light green 146B)(Table-1).

f) Inflorescence

Large (30-35 cm) decompound, panicle, ultimate branches strict with 2-3peduncles, spathules from each spathe; Racemes 20 cm long, one sessileor short and the other longer pedicelled with the two lower spikelets,homogenous, male or neuter. The pedicel not swollen, the remaining pairin both racemes heterogamous. Ovary with 1 carpal, unilocular, stigmabifid, lateral and feathery, superior, ovule single, erect.

Seeds terete, 0.2 cm long, very rarely viable like that of all knownvarieties leading the plant to solely depend upon the vegetative(asexual) means for its propagation. Vegetative propagation solely viarooted tillers (slips), homogenous and genetically true to the motherplant (the first water tolerant variant of Jorlals-2).

The mentioned stem (clum) is an elongation at the basal part of itsplants (sheet # 3, photograph #1) is a major “morphological marker” foridentifying its water tolerance. The formation of nodes in high number(8-12 as against 4-5 of the normal varieties) with low internodaldistance (1.5-2.0 cm against 2.0-3.0 cm) and longer culm length (24-30cm against 5-10 cm of the normal varieties) in ‘Jal Pallavi’, distinctlymark it from the short-culmed normal varieties at both normal and waterlogging field situation.

In contrast to the prevailing belief that in aromatic plantsrelationship between oil quantity and oil quality is inverse, theimprovement in ‘Jal Pallavi’ (Table 5 & Table 6) over the existingvarieties, for oil productivity, has not been accompanied by reductionin oil quality. This was revealed by the results of the quality analysisof essential oil samples, prepared from ‘Jal Pallavi’ and its mothervariety ‘Jorlab-2’ and then were examined by Gas Liquid Chromatography(GLC). With the percent concentration of the major essential oilconstituents: citronellal, citronellol and geraniol being 40.7, 10.7 and17.5, in the quality of ‘Jal Pallavi’ essential oil could be consideredquite consistent with that of the mother variety having correspondingvalues 36.9, 10.5 and 21.9 (The total area under the three peaks againstthese three major constituents in the two genotypes measures 68.9 and69.3, respectively).

The color codes are according to the R.H.S. color chart published by TheRoyal Horticultural Society, 80 Vincent Square, London SW1P 2PE,1995.The above examples are only illustrative in nature and should not beconstrued to limit the scope of the invention.

TABLE 5 Oil content (%) in different Cymbopogon crop varieties(estimated by glass distillation) Oil content (%) during Variety/strainSummer Rains Winter I. Citronella i) Bio 13 1.35 0.70 1.30 ii) Manjusha1.20 0.66 1.00 iii) Mandakini 1.00 0.60 1.00 iv) Jorlab-2 0.95 0.50 0.85v) Pantnagar Local 1.10 0.60 1.10 vi) Jal Pallavi 1.45 0.80 1.40 II.Palmarosa 0 PRC-1 0.70 0.50 0.65 III. Lemongrass i) GRL-1 0.60 0.40 0.60

TABLE 6 Yield of essential oil upon hydro-distillation of the herbage of‘Jal Pallavi’ and other varieties of citronella (same distillation tankused for all the entries) at PST (1996-97 and 1997-98, Plot Size: 25 m ×10 m and Data pooled over 3 harvests/year). Total area (m²) har- vestedTotal amount of herb Total amount of oil Variety/ and distilled(kg/plot) obtained (kg/plot) strain distilled 1996-97 1997-98 1996-971997-98 Bio-13 250 660.8 560.2 5.3 4.5 Manjusha 250 668.5 568.6 5.5 4.7Mandakini 250 662.0 552.8 5.3 4.4 Jorlab-2 250 658.4 522.7 5.0 4.0Pantnagar 250 602.6 511.0 4.2 3.6 Local Jal Pallavi 250 872.3 858.8 8.07.6 Percent improvement Estimated yield/ha/year in ‘Jal Pallavi’ overthe at pilot scale for other varieties for Variety/strain Herbage (q)Oil (kg) Herb yield Oil yield Bio-13 244.2 195.6 41.8 59.5 Manjusha251.0 204.0 38.0 53.0 Mandakini 243.0 194.0 42.5 60.8 Jorlab-2 236.2180.0 46.3 73.3 Pantnagar 222.7 156.0 55.4 100.0 Local Jal Pallavi 346.2312.0 — —

Statement of Distinction

As evident from the morphology the plant of ‘Jal Pallavi’ is distinctfrom its mother variety ‘Jorlab-2’ as well as the other existingvarieties. The mentioned stem elongation at the basal part of its plantsas shown in Photograph #4 is a major “morphological marker” foridentifying its water tolerance. The plant is superior to the normalcitronella varieties in respect to growth habit and physiologicalfitness for withstanding the hostile environments of water stagnationsituation that often happens with soil undulations in old perennials,and also shows high oil content and high oil content and high oil yield.The water tolerance of the plant is a major marker for the prognosis ofits high physiological fitness. The significant physiological fitnessfor water tolerance coupled with high yield potentials in ‘Jal Pallavi’is unique and hence, can be considered as a new strain available withnone but us (The Institute, CIMAP, Lucknow, India).

The genotype of the plant, though unique compared to other normalvarieties, has a considerable similarity (˜80%) with its mother variety‘Jorlab-2’. The DNA profiling results through RAPD analysis and therecords of morpho-physiological appraisals of the plant, when consideredtogether reveal that the plant has perhaps, derived its origin fromspontaneous mutation of gene(s) in its mother variety ‘Jorlab-2’.

The novelty of the invention is that ‘Jal Pallavi’, apart fromdistinguishing itself from the other varieties by having meaningfulwater tolerance coupled with high productivity and productivitystability, shows additional distinctiveness by possessing the followingcombination of morpho-genetic and physiological characters.

a. The plant has long stature in comparison to other released varieties(95.7±1.2 cm against. 76.3±1.1 cm, 78.7±1.5 cm and 82.6±1.3 cm of‘Jorlab-2’, ‘Bio-13’ and ‘Manjusha’, respectively; (Table 1).

b. The plant has potentiality in simultaneously generating large numberof long tillers i.e. high somatic reproducibility leading to highbiomass productivity (94 tillers against 72, 81 and 86 of ‘Jorlab-2’,‘Bio-13’ and ‘Manjusha’, respectively (Table 1).

c. Unlike all other normal citronella varieties, the plant can quicklyelongate the stems (culms) lying between plant base and leaf sheaths byformation of very hard nodes and internodes in both aquatic and normalfield situations.

d. The plant has relatively high oil content potential (1.22%) incomparison to the other varieties with 0.77-1.12% oil content inaddition to being water tolerant when grown in water stagnation.

Accordingly the invention provides a novel, high yielding and stableplant of Cymbopogon winterianus, ‘Jal Pallavi’ having the followingcombination of characters.

a. The said plant is a variant (mutant) of the normal citronella variety‘Jorlab-2’ with distinct morphology that was selected and isolatedthrough large scale screening for any spontaneously arising variability.

b. The plant is highly adapted to both favorable as well as unfavorableenvironments of continuous and aberrant water stagnation situations.

c. The plant produces more biomass (herbage yield) as well as essentialoil in comparison to the existing citronella varieties.

d. The plant has essential oil with pleasant smell conforming to theStandard I concentrations for the major oil components citronellal,citronellol and geraniol much useful in pharmaceutical/aromaticpreparations for various applications.

e. The plant has unique RAPD profile, compared to those of the existingcitronella varieties.

f. The plant slows the least reduction in yield (herbage as well asessential oil) over years and thus constitutes the most suitablematerial for perennial plantations.

In another embodiment the novel plant shows substantially high oil yieldof at least 1.22% with the following oil constituents to a maximumextent of citronellal (at least 40.7%), citronellol (at least 10.7%),geraniol (at least 17.5%) and the rest being unidentified fractions inthe essential oil all totaling to 100% at different stages of growth.

Botanical Details

1. Mature growth habit in width: The space-planted ‘Jal Pallavi’ plants(with wider plant spacing of 1.5 m×1.5 m against the normal plantspacing of 60 cm×30 cm) (FIG. 1) measure 1.3 m-1.4 m in width against1.0-1.3, of the plants of normal varieties, when both classes of plantsare quite a mature (2 years old). ‘Jal Pallavi’ has culms having a solidstem unusually elongated between the plant base and leaf sheath. Suchstem elongation is the major morphological ‘marker’ to identify thewater logging tolerance of the plant (FIG. 3 and 4).

2. Leaf blade shape: Linear lanceolate.

3. Leaf blade apex shape: Acuminate.

4. Leaf blade margin: Entire.

5. Surface texture of leaf blade (both lower and upper side): Thick withminute hairs on the upper surface; Lower surface glabrous.

6. Leaf blade fragrance: Pleasant aroma (due to major essential oilconstituents; critonellol, citronellal and gerniol) comes out when leafblade is rubbed between fingers.

7. Leaf blade colour designation (both upper and lower side) on onR.H.S. colour Chart: Upper side yellow green with the colour code 146Bon R.H.S. colour chart; lower side yellow green with the colour code147B (FIG. 2) the R.H.S. colour chart as against green (137A) at theupper surface and green (137B) at the lower surface of the others.

8. Leaf sheath length: 35-40 cm.

9. Leaf sheath type: Tubular (Open tube surrounding the stem) (FIG. 3).

10. Leaf sheath colour designation — on R.H.S. colour chart: Red purplewith the colour code 70B on R.H.S. colour chart (FIG. 3).

11. Leaf sheath margin: Membranous and entire.

12. Leaf sheath surface texture: Glabrous.

13. Culms size: Each circular (terete) culm measuring 40-46 cm forlength and 2.2-2.6 cm in width.

14. Culms colour designation — on R.H.S. colour chart: Yellowish greenwith colour code 147D on R.H.S. colour chart.

15. Culms surface texture: Smooth and glossy.

16. Ligules size: Small in size 0.3 cm in length (along the stem girth)and 0.1 cm in width (along the stem length), occurring in pairs at thejunction of leaf blade and leaf sheath.

17. Ligules colour designation — on The R.H.S. colour chart: Orange redwith the colour code 31C on The R.H.S. colour chart.

18. Ligules surface texture: Smooth and membranous.

19. Ligules shape: Truncate.

20. Inflorescence size: Inflorescence 45-56 cm long and 30-33 cm wide.

21. Inflorescence arrangement: Inflorescence (loose panicle) comprisingplural branches, each of which is supported by a spahathe; the ultimateunit of spathate panicle consists of a pair of racemes, each issupported by a stalk called a raceme-base. The bases are fused togetherabove the point where they are articulated with the common peduncle;each raceme measuring 16-19 mm in length, is often deflexed and consistsof several pairs of spikelets. In each spikelet pair one spikelet issessile and the other pedicelled. The sessile spikelet is hermaphroditeand the pedicelled spikelet is male.

22. Inflorescence colour designation — on R.H.S. colour chart: Yellowgreen (144B) (in beginning) to orange red (31B) (at the later phase).

23. Root type: Fibrous.

24. Pest resistance: Resistant to pests, as axiomatic to the markedabsence of the earlier reported common pests especially shoot borer(Chilo infuscatellus, Thrips (Anaphothrips sundanensis), Aphid(Macrosiphum miscanthi), Leafhopper (Ziginia macensis) and mites(Eriophyces cymbopogon).

25. Seed colour: Greyed purple (187D).

26. Seed shape: Trigone.

27. Seed size: Shrivelled seeds measuring 0.4 mm×0.2 mm in size.

28. Seed surface texture: Wrinkled with minute hairs at the tip.

29. Stem shape: Terete.

30. Stem habit: Bold and solid stem against soft stem (culm) of theothers; Stem showing unusual elongation between plant base and leafsheath. Such growth habit of stem, as mentioned earlier, is the majormorphological ‘marker’ for the prognosis of water logging tolerance of‘Jal Pallavi’.

31. Number of nodes:

I. Primary nodes.—15-20.

II. Secondary nodes.—12-16.

III. Tertiary note.—It does not occur.

32. Average length of primary internodes: 15-20 mm.

33. Leaf lamina base shape: Circular (open and amplexixaul (i.e.surrounding the stem).

34. Peteole shape: It is not peteole but leaf sheath (describedearlier).

35. Number of trichomes: Trichomes do not occur (Glandular Trichomesoccur in some diocotyledonous aromatic plant like Mentha but not inmonocots).

36. Time of flowering: During spring (March-April) and Autumn(September-October).

37. Lastingness as bloom: For each flower 10-12 hrs (but span offlowering of the plants is 10-12 days).

38. Flower shape: Cup shape largely given by the four glumes, (floweringglume, lemma and its associated gluma palea and the basal two emplyglumes), which enclose the flower (most of the time the flower does notopen but invariably pushes out the feathery stigma before anthesis tofacilitate its out-crossing).

39. Pedicel length: Grooved pedicel measures 1-2 mm in length (pediceloccurs only in the male spikelets).

40. Calyx diameter: The plant does not have dalyx but the emply glumeswhich contain the flower.

41. Calyx colour designation: Not applicable.

42. Corolla: Two petals are modified into perianths, called aslodicules.

43. Corolla colour — on R.H.S. colour chart: Modified petals (lodicules)faint green (it does not match The R.H.S. colour chart).

44. Pubescence of corolla: Non pubescent.

45. Number of anthers: Three (versatile anthers).

46. Anther colour designation — on R.H.S. colour: Green (147D).

47. Stigma: Feathery stigma.

48. Ovaries: Superior, one celled with one ovule.

49. Colour of stigma: Reddish purple (70A).

50. Colour of ovaries: Green (147D).

Details of Cloning of the Plant

The water logging tolerant plant ‘Jal Pallavi’ was vegetatively clonedat the field station of Central Institute of Medicinal and AromaticPlants (CIMAP) which is at Pantnagar, Uttar Pradesh, India. As to thecharacter of the area (Pantnagar) where the plant (Jal Pallavi) has beenvegetatively cloned from the original genotype WTC-1 (Water TolerantCitronella), is situated at the sub-tropical foot hill belt, a majoraromatic crop growing area of India. The soil of the experimental siteat Pantnagar was clay-loamy in texture, high in organic carbon (1.16%),medium in available P (180.0 kg/ha) and K (200.0 kg/ha) with normal pH(7.0). The being located at a latitude of 29 N., longitude of 79.30 E.and at an altitude of 244M above mean see level, it gets the minimumtemperature ranging between 3-8° C. and maximum temperature rangingbetween 17 and 25° C. during winter months. The corresponding ranges forthe minimum and maximum temperature, which the crop usually receivesduring its growth period in spring and summer are 9 to 25° C. and 25 to42° C., respectively. The total rainfull over the area in differentmonths of the years during 1994 to 1999 ranged between 1.2 mm (duringwinter) to 336.0 mm (during rains).

The original plant WTC-1 (Jal Pallavi) as well as the rest 4999 normalJorlab-2 plants (sister plants of Jal Pallavi, that had no water loggingtolerance) were maintained in the aquatic experimental field for thewhole year (January 1994 to December 1995) (size of the field: 850 sq.m. And plant spacing: 60 cm×30 cm). During September, 1994 when theplant WTC-1 appeared as a full grown individual with as high as 60tillers, a total of 50 tillers were drawn from WTC-1 and transplanted ina separate bed as its second vegetative generation (VG2)=leaving therest part of its clump comprising 10 tillers as original plant (VG1) inthe aquatic experimental field. During February, 1995 all the VG 2plants having the morphological plant attributes identical with that ofthe original plant (WTC-1), were uprooted and their tillers (Averagetillers/plant: 40) were planted in field plots allotted to thepreliminary yield trial (PYT) as well as the plots allotted to thevegetative multiplication of Jal Pallavi. The PYT was conducted in thefashion of a Randomized Block Design with six treatments (varieties: JalPallavi+five control cultivars: Bio-13, Manjusha, Mandakini, Jorlab-2(the mother variety) and Pantnagar Local) and three replications foreach treatment. The plot size in PYT measured 10 m×3 m for eachtreatment and was sufficient to accommodate a total of 166 plants spacedat 60 cm×30 cm plant spacing. The proportion of the VG2 tillers of JalPallavi, Planted in PYT and the vegetative multiplication block (VMB)with the similar plant spacing (60 cm×30 cm) was: PTY:VMB:500:1500. Theplants of both PYT and VMB were maintained with the normal culturalpractices. The first harvest data in PYT with VG2 plants was collectedduring June, 1995 and the second harvest data during October, 1995. TheVG2 plants in VMB attained full growth by having 60 tillers per plantduring February 1996. Of the total of 90,000 tillers drawn from the 1500VG2 plants of VMB, 1200 were used in conducting the pitol scale yieldtrial (PST) and the rest 88,800 were planted in bigger VMB (1.6 ha) andgrown as VG3 generation. The PST was conducted during 1996-1999 in thefashion of RBD with 6 treatments (including Jal Pallavi) and 3replications. The plot size in PST measured 16 m×5 m and couldaccomodate 400 plants with 60 cm×30 cm plant spacing.

To abridge, Jal Pallavi was vegetatively reproduced (clones) two times(for raising VG2 and VG3 generation) from the original plant (WTC-1)comprising 60 tillers (VG1 generation) and every time the reproducedstock was morphophysiologically identical with the original plant(WTC-1).

Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA Analysis

Type of analysis used by the applicant to determine the genetic distanceusing RAPD marker.

In order to study at the molecular level the diversity and geneticrelationships among the plant Jal Pallavi and mother five cultivars:Bio-13, Manjusha, Jorlab-2 (the mother cultivar), Manjusha, Ceyloncitronella and Mandakini, twenty arbitrary primers (Table 7 in theearlier submitted original version for the invention) were used for RAPDanalysis of their isolated DNA. The DNA was isolated from 40 mg of leaftissue essentially according to the protocol of Doyle and Doyle (1987).Polymerase chain reactions (PCRs) were carried out in 25 μL volume Areaction tube contained 25 mg of DNA, 0.2 unit of Taq DNA polymerase,100 μM each of dNTPs, 1.5 mM MgCi₂ and 5 p mol of decanucleotideprimers. The amplifications were carried out using the DNA Enginethermal Cycler (MJ Research, USA following the protocol describedearlier (Shasany et al. 1998). The amplified products were loaded in1.2% agarose gel containing 0.5 μG ml- of ethidium bromide andphotographed by polaroid system. Custom-made decanucleotide primers (M AP 0 1 to M A P 2 0) were used for the analysis.

The similarity among the cultivars for specific DNA band(s) weremeasured by the help of the similarity matrix obtained aftermultivariate analysis using Nei and Li's coefficient (Nei and Li, 1979),of the distance index (1-similarity index between the genotypes) werefound out to measure the diversity between the cultivars.

The RAPD patterns of the plants are completely different from those ofthe parent (‘Jorlab-2’) as well as of the known released varieties‘Manjusha’, ‘Mandakini’, ‘Bio-13’ and Ceylon. The plant of the presentinvention was being developed by planned selection and thus is distinct,unique, novel and can be used for various medicinal and aromaticpurposes. The plant has better morphological and economical traits andis available only with us in CIMAP. No variation in the RAPD patternswere observed in the DNA analysis of the population for threegenerations indicating the stability of the genotype. The followingprimers (Table 7) were used to calculate the similarity of ‘Jal Pallavi’with the control (Table 8).

TABLE 7 Primers Nucleotide Sequence 1. MAP 01 SEQ ID NO:1 5′ AAA TCG GAGC 3′ 2. MAP 02 SEQ ID NO:2 5′ GTC CTA CTC G 3′ 3. MAP 03 SEQ ID NO:3 5′GTC CTT AGC G 3′ 4. MAP 04 SEQ ID NO:4 5′ TGC GCG ATC G 3′ 5. MAP 05 SEQID NO:5 5′ AAC GTA CGC G 3′ 6. MAP 06 SEQ ID NO:6 5′ GCA CGC CGG A 3′ 7.MAP 07 SEQ ID NO:7 5′ CAC CCT GCG C 3′ 8. MAP 08 SEQ ID NO:8 5′ CTA TCGCCG C 3′ 9. MAP 09 SEQ ID NO:9 5′ CGG GAT CCG C 3′ 10 MAP 10 SEQ IDNO:10 5′ GCG AAT TCC G 3′ 11. MAP 11 SEQ ID NO:11 5′ CCC TGC AGG C 3′ 12MAP 12 SEQ ID NO:12 5′ CCA AGC TTG C 3′ 13 MAP 13 SEQ ID NO:13 5′ GTGCAA TGA G 3′ 14 MAP 14 SEQ ID NO:14 5′ AGG ATA CGT G 3′ 15 MAP 15 SEQ IDNO:15 5′ AAG ATA GCG G 3′ 16 MAP 16 SEQ ID NO:16 5′ GGA TCT GAA C 3′ 17MAP 17 SEQ ID NO:17 5′ TTG TCT CAG G 3′ 18 MAP 18 SEQ ID NO:18 5′ CATCCC GAA C 3′ 19 MAP 19 SEQ ID NO:19 5′ GGA CTC CAC G 3′ 20 MAP 20 SEQ IDNO:20 5′ AGC CTG ACG C 3′ (MAP-Medicinal and Aromatic Plants)

TABLE 8 Similarities and distances of ‘Jal Pallavi’ with other releasedvarieties of citronella based on RAPD analysis Jal Jorlab- Bio-13Pallavi 2 Manjusha Ceylon Mandakini Bio-13 1.000 (0) Jal Pallavi 0.3491000 (0.651) (0) Jorlab-2 0.330 0.797 1.000 (0.670) (0.203) (0) Manjusha0.316 0.444 0.549 1.000 (0.684) (0.556) (0.451) (0) Ceylon 0.372 0.3270.328 0.360 1.000 (0.628) (0.673) (0.672) (0.640) (0) Mandakini 0.4250.391 0.391 0.440 0.314 1.000 (0.575) (0.609) (0.609) (0.560) (0.589 (0)Following primers purchased from Operon Technologies (HAS) were used todevelop the unique RAPD profiles of the plant ‘Jal Pallavi’ (Table 9 andPhotograph #5)

TABLE 9 Primers Nucleotide sequence 1. OPT 01 SEQ ID NO:21 5′ GGG CCACTC A 3′ 2. OPT 02 SEQ ID NO:22 5′ GGA GAG ACT C 3′ 3. OPT 03 SEQ IDNO:23 5′ TCC ACT CCT G 3′ 4. OPT 04 SEQ ID NO:24 5′ CAC AGA GGG A 3′ 5.OPT 05 SEQ ID NO:25 5′ GGG TTT GGC A 3′ 6. OPT 06 SEQ ID NO:26 5′ CAAGGG CAG A 3′ 7. OPT 07 SEQ ID NO:27 5′ GGC AGG CTG T 3′ 8. OPT 08 SEQ IDNO:28 5′ AAC GGC GAC A 3′ 9. OPT 09 SEQ ID NO:29 5′ CAC CCC TGA G 3′ 10.OPT 10 SEQ ID NO:30 5′ TTC CCC GCG A 3′ 11. OPT 11 SEQ ID NO:31 5′ GGGTGT GTA G 3′ 12. OPT 12 SEQ ID NO:32 5′ AAT GCC GCA G 3′ 13. OPT 13 SEQID NO:33 5′ GGA TGC CAC T 3′ 14. OPT 14 SEQ ID NO:34 5′ GGT GAA CGC T 3′15. OPT 15 SEQ ID NO:35 5′ CCA ACG TCG T 3′ 16. OPT 16 SEQ ID NO:36 5′GAT GCC AGA C 3′ 17. OPT 17 SEQ ID NO:37 5′ GTC CGT ATG G 3′ 18. OPT 18SEQ ID NO:38 5′ GAC CAA TGC C 3′

Disease Resistance

Information relating to plant disease/Insect-pestresistance/susceptibility is as follows.

Attempts were made during 1995-98 to regularly examine the field grownplants of Jal Pallavi and the five control varieties (Bio-13, Jorlab-2,Manjusha, Mandakini). All the six varieties, with rare exception inPantnagar Local which showed very negligible infestation (0.8%) of thesucking stem borer (Chilo Infascatsllus), did not exhibit anyinfestation of insect-pest.

Studies on disease resistance were conducted prior to each of the 4consecutive harvests (cuts) of the crop after planting and the reactionof the new variety ‘Jal Pallavi’ as well as five control varieties:‘Bio-13’, ‘Manjusha’, ‘Mandakini’, ‘Jorlab-2’, and ‘Pantnagar Local’ tothe earlier reported diseases: leaf blight caused by Curvulariaandropogonis (Alam and Husain, 1976; Alam, et al. 1983) and Drechleraautraliensis (Ramiah and Chandrashekhar, 1981), purple leaf spot causedby Colletotrichum graminicola (Sarwar et al., 1980), lethal yellowingcaused by Pythium aphanidermatum (Alam et al., 1992), colar rot and wiltcaused by Fusarium moniliforme (Alam et al., 1994) and sheath and leafblight caused by Rhizoctonia solani (Singh et al., 1997) were recordedsheath and leaf blight and purple leaf spot scored on modified 9-pointdisease scale, where 1=0%, 2=1 to 5%, 3=6 to 10%, 4=11 to 20%, 5=21 to30% 6=31 to 40%, 7=41 to 60%, 8=61 to 80% and 9=81 to 100% foliagedestroyed. Any variety with 1 to 3% score in the scale was consideredresistant. As to the scoring in respect to lethal yellowing (LY), colarrot (CR) and wilt (W) diseases reactions were found out on the basis ofpercent infected plants. Table 10 shows the results convincinglyindicating the relative resistance of the new variety ‘Jal Pallavi’.During the whole experimental period till date, ‘Jal Pallavi’ as well asall the control genotypes have not revealed any infestation of insectpests.

Information on Cold and Drough Tolerance

The water requirements of the new variety Jal Pallavi as well as all theexisting standard varieties are very high and invariably they aresusceptible to drought and water stress. Likewise, Jal Pallavi as wellas the other citronella genotypes do not have much tolerance to cold andfrosting, as it had been aromatic to their poor growth and biomassproduction during hard winter.

38 1 10 DNA Artificial MAP 01 Primer - Primer used in RAPD analysiscomparing Jal Pallavi with Jorlab-2, Manjusha, Mandakini, Bio-13, andCeylon. 1 aaatcggagc 10 2 10 DNA Artificial MAP 02 Primer - Primer usedin RAPD analysis comparing Jal Pallavi with Jorlab-2, Manjusha,Mandakini, Bio-13, and Ceylon. 2 gtcctactcg 10 3 10 DNA Artificial MAP03 Primer - Primer used in RAPD analysis comparing Jal Pallavi withJorlab-2, Manjusha, Mandakini, Bio-13, and Ceylon. 3 gtccttagcg 10 4 10DNA Artificial MAP 04 Primer - Primer used in RAPD analysis comparingJal Pallavi with Jorlab-2, Manjusha, Mandakini, Bio-13, and Ceylon. 4tgcgcgatcg 10 5 10 DNA Artificial MAP 05 Primer - Primer used in RAPDanalysis comparing Jal Pallavi with Jorlab-2, Manjusha, Mandakini,Bio-13, and Ceylon. 5 aacgtacgcg 10 6 10 DNA Artificial MAP 06 Primer -Primer used in RAPD analysis comparing Jal Pallavi with Jorlab-2,Manjusha, Mandakini, Bio-13, and Ceylon. 6 gcacgccgga 10 7 10 DNAArtificial MAP 07 Primer - Primer used in RAPD analysis comparing JalPallavi with Jorlab-2, Manjusha, Mandakini, Bio-13, and Ceylon. 7caccctgcgc 10 8 10 DNA Artificial MAP 08 Primer - Primer used in RAPDanalysis comparing Jal Pallavi with Jorlab-2, Manjusha, Mandakini,Bio-13, and Ceylon. 8 ctatcgccgc 10 9 10 DNA Artificial MAP 09 Primer -Primer used in RAPD analysis comparing Jal Pallavi with Jorlab-2,Manjusha, Mandakini, Bio-13, and Ceylon. 9 cgggatccgc 10 10 10 DNAArtificial MAP 10 Primer - Primer used in RAPD analysis comparing JalPallavi with Jorlab-2, Manjusha, Mandakini, Bio-13, and Ceylon. 10gcgaattccg 10 11 10 DNA Artificial MAP 11 Primer - Primer used in RAPDanalysis comparing Jal Pallavi with Jorlab-2, Manjusha, Mandakini,Bio-13, and Ceylon. 11 ccctgcaggc 10 12 10 DNA Artificial MAP 12Primer - Primer used in RAPD analysis comparing Jal Pallavi withJorlab-2, Manjusha, Mandakini, Bio-13, and Ceylon. 12 ccaagcttgc 10 1310 DNA Artificial MAP 13 Primer - Primer used in RAPD analysis comparingJal Pallavi with Jorlab-2, Manjusha, Mandakini, Bio-13, and Ceylon. 13gtgcaatgag 10 14 10 DNA Artificial MAP 14 Primer - Primer used in RAPDanalysis comparing Jal Pallavi with Jorlab-2, Manjusha, Mandakini,Bio-13, and Ceylon. 14 aggatacgtg 10 15 10 DNA Artificial MAP 15Primer - Primer used in RAPD analysis comparing Jal Pallavi withJorlab-2, Manjusha, Mandakini, Bio-13, and Ceylon. 15 aagatagcgg 10 1610 DNA Artificial MAP 16 Primer - Primer used in RAPD analysis comparingJal Pallavi with Jorlab-2, Manjusha, Mandakini, Bio-13, and Ceylon. 16ggatctgaac 10 17 10 DNA Artificial MAP 17 Primer - Primer used in RAPDanalysis comparing Jal Pallavi with Jorlab-2, Manjusha, Mandakini,Bio-13, and Ceylon. 17 ttgtctcagg 10 18 10 DNA Artificial MAP 18Primer - Primer used in RAPD analysis comparing Jal Pallavi withJorlab-2, Manjusha, Mandakini, Bio-13, and Ceylon. 18 catcccgaac 10 1910 DNA Artificial MAP 19 Primer - Primer used in RAPD analysis comparingJal Pallavi with Jorlab-2, Manjusha, Mandakini, Bio-13, and Ceylon. 19ggactccacg 10 20 10 DNA Artificial MAP 20 Primer - Primer used in RAPDanalysis comparing Jal Pallavi with Jorlab-2, Manjusha, Mandakini,Bio-13, and Ceylon. 20 agcctgacgc 10 21 10 DNA Artificial OPT 01Primer - Used to develop the unique RAPD profiles of the plant JalPallavi 21 gggccactca 10 22 10 DNA Artificial OPT 02 Primer - Used todevelop the unique RAPD profiles of the plant Jal Pallavi 22 ggagagactc10 23 10 DNA Artificial OPT 03 Primer - Used to develop the unique RAPDprofiles of the plant Jal Pallavi 23 tccactcctg 10 24 10 DNA ArtificialOPT 04 Primer - Used to develop the unique RAPD profiles of the plantJal Pallavi 24 cacagaggga 10 25 10 DNA Artificial OPT 05 Primer - Usedto develop the unique RAPD profiles of the plant Jal Pallavi 25gggtttggca 10 26 10 DNA Artificial OPT 06 Primer - Used to develop theunique RAPD profiles of the plant Jal Pallavi 26 caagggcaga 10 27 10 DNAArtificial OPT 07 Primer - Used to develop the unique RAPD profiles ofthe plant Jal Pallavi 27 ggcaggctgt 10 28 10 DNA Artificial OPT 08Primer - Used to develop the unique RAPD profiles of the plant JalPallavi 28 aacggcgaca 10 29 10 DNA Artificial OPT 09 Primer - Used todevelop the unique RAPD profiles of the plant Jal Pallavi 29 cacccctgag10 30 10 DNA Artificial OPT 11 Primer - Used to develop the unique RAPDprofiles of the plant Jal Pallavi 30 ttccccgcga 10 31 10 DNA ArtificialOPT 12 Primer - Used to develop the unique RAPD profiles of the plantJal Pallavi 31 gggtgtgtag 10 32 10 DNA Artificial OPT 14 Primer - Usedto develop the unique RAPD profiles of the plant Jal Pallavi 32aatgccgcag 10 33 10 DNA Artificial OPT 15 Primer - Used to develop theunique RAPD profiles of the plant Jal Pallavi 33 ggatgccact 10 34 10 DNAArtificial OPT 16 Primer - Used to develop the unique RAPD profiles ofthe plant Jal Pallavi 34 ggtgaacgct 10 35 10 DNA Artificial OPT 17Primer - Used to develop the unique RAPD profiles of the plant JalPallavi 35 ccaacgtcgt 10 36 10 DNA Artificial OPT 18 Primer - Used todevelop the unique RAPD profiles of the plant Jal Pallavi 36 gatgccagac10 37 10 DNA Artificial OPT 19 Primer - Used to develop the unique RAPDprofiles of the plant Jal Pallavi 37 gtccgtatgg 10 38 10 DNA ArtificialOPT 20 Primer - Used to develop the unique RAPD profiles of the plantJal Pallavi 38 gaccaatgcc 10

We claim:
 1. A novel, distinct, high yielding and stable variety ofcitronella plant Cymbopogon winterianus, named ‘Jal Pallavi’characterized by the combination of characteristics: (a) highly adaptedto both favorable as well as unfavorable environments of continuous andaberrant water stagnation situations, (b) production of more biomass(herbage yield) in comparison to the existing citronella varieties, (c)production of essential oil with pleasant smell conforming to thestandard concentrations for the major oil components citronellal,citronellol, and geraniol much useful in pharmaceutical/aromaticpreparations for various applications, (d) unique RAPD profile, comparedto those of the existing citronella varieties, (e) exhibiting leastreduction in yield (herbage as well as essential oil) over years andthus constitutes the most suitable material for perennial plantations,(f) substantially high oil yield, at least 1.22%, with the following oilconstituents to a maximum extent of citronellal at least 40.7%,citronellol at least 10.7%, geraniol at least 17.5% and the rest beingunidentified fractions in the essential oil, all totaling to 100% atdifferent stages of growth, substantially as shown and described.